Golf-club head



Jan. 12,1926. 1,569,212"

J. A. G. AITKEN GOLF CLUB HEAD Filed Jan. 17. 1925 7 2 0 2 7 2i0' J I l67 I] 0 i/ Z M w .7.

V 1/ 6 (F A? WITNESSES INVENTOR 'Ja/nes A. 6.46%0. BY

M @100 I ATTORNEYS a Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

UNITED STATES JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD AITKEN, OF HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS.

GOLF-CLUB HEAD.

Application filed January 17, 1925; Serial No. 3,133.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMns A. G. ArrnnN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Holyoke, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGolf-Club Heads, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates generally to 19 golf clubs and moreparticularly to golf irons and the markings of the striking faces ofsuch clubs, my object being the marking of iron clubs by means ofstraight grooves in such manner that the users playing ability will bematerially enhanced, without infringing the rules and without violatingthe ethics of the game or in general those of good sportsmanship.

In carrying out my invention I so arrange straight grooves or markingsas to produce an indicating area shaded with respect to the surroundingarea for several purposes all of which have in mind improvement in theusers play in the respects and for the reasons which I will now proceedto describe.

In the accompanying drawing illustratiug my present invention andforming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a front elevation showing a club head marked in accordancewith my invention, and

Figures 2 and 3 are vertical transverse sections taken respectively onlines 2-2 and 33 of Figure 1.

Referring now to these figures I have shown the head of what is commonlyknown as an iron club, generally indicated at and including a bladewhose striking face 11 has markings thereon including vertical ortransverse grooves 12 and 13 in spaced apart relation and respectivelyadjacent to the toe 14 and heel 15 of the head. It is quite usual toconnect such vertical or transverse grooves with horizontal orlongitudinal grooves extending continuously between the vertical ortransverse grooves and so long as these grooves do not exceed a certaindepth and are spaced sufliciently from one another, they do not violatethe rules at present in force against the use of artificial meansdesigned to impart back spin to the ball.

According to my invention, however, and as most plainly seen in Figure 1the longitudinal or horizontal grooves 16 extend in alternating relationfrom the two vertical grooves 12 and 13 and do not extend continuouslyfrom one vertical groove to the other. Moreover the grooves 16 accordingto my present invention overlap one another at their inner ends and aregraduated in their overlapping extent, being overlapped to an increasinggreater extent from the upper to the lower edge of the blade so as toproduce a shaded area readily distinguishable from the remainder of thesurface of the blade by virtue of the closer proximity of the overlapping portions of the grooves.

The shaded portion just mentioned marks the place where the ball and theface of the blade should contact as a stroke is made in order to obtainmaximum results as far as distance and direction are concerned, and inaddition this shaded area also tends to concentrate the mind and sightof the player on that particular part of the face of the blade. Thisshaded portion moreover will give a player the exact lie and pitch ofthe club head and will enable him to take a stance conforming as nearlyas possible to the proper mechanics of hitting the ball.

Again, on shots where the ball is struck too far out of the face of theblade toward its toe, and where a slice occurs due to the torsionalstrain on the shaft of the club, the outer edge of the shaded portion ofthe blade markings will come in contact with the ball, with double theeffect of the single lines and will have a tendency to put a strong backspin on the inside of the ball and consequently tend to straighten outthe line of flight. This inward spin on the ball will also tend to causethe ball to bound in the opposite direction to its slice in flight andthus when the ball contacts with the ground it will bound in the desireddirection rather than follow the undesired slice.

It is for the foregoing reasons that my invention has a fourfoldadvantage; first, it gives a shaded portion at all times upon thestriking face of the blade; second, it concenq trates the mind and sightof the player on the exact point of contact between the ball and theblade; third, it materially benefits the stance of the player; fourth,it tends to a better and truer flight of the ball and to correctinstances where the flight is untrue or improper.

While I have shown and described the best mode of arrangement ofmarkings so far devised for the purpose of producing a shaded area atand around the proper striking point, other arrangements of themarkingsmight be devised and it is to be understood that I claim as my inventionall such arrangement falling within the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A golf club having its blade provided with facial grooves extendingtoward one another in alternating relation and overlap ping one'anotherat their, inner portions to provide an area shaded by virtue of theclose proximity of the grooves where they overlap. V

2. A golf club having its blade provided with facial grooves extendingtoward one another in alternating relation and overlapping one anotherat their inner portions to a gradually increasing extent from the upperto the lower edge of the blade.

' 3. A golf club having its blade provided 7 with spaced apart verticalgrooves extending from the upper to the lower edge thereof, and alsoprovided with horizontal grooves extending in alternating relation fromthe vertical grooves and having their inner portions overlapping.

4. A golf club-having its blade provided with spaced apart verticalgrooves extending from the upper to the lower edge thereof, and alsoprovided with horizontal grooves extending in alternating relation fronrthe vertical grooves and having their innerportions overlapping to agradually increasing extent from the upper to the lower edge of theblade.

5. A golf club having its blade provided with facial grooves formingmarkings and arranged with certain portions in closer proximity than theother portions whereby; to produce a shaded area at and around the firstmentioned portions, for the'purpose described.

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD AITKEN.

